Olton Newspaper Edits Obituary Because of a Gay Couple

There are very few times that someone's personal and professional opinions should not matter. One of those times is a person's obituary.

KCBD reported on a gay couple from Dallas who feel like they were discriminated against.

I won't go into the whole story here (here's the full version if you want to read it), but the condensed version is that Olton Enterprise Owner and Editor Phillip Hamilton took it upon himself to edit an obituary because it was contrary to his religious beliefs. He removed the husband of one of the family members mentioned in the obit, along with that person's partner.

This is someone's family. Obviously, the family and the deceased took no issue with the submitted obituary, so why would an editor of a paper?

Here's what Hamilton told KCBD:

As such, it is his religious conviction that a male cannot have a husband. It is also his belief that to publish anything contrary to God's Word on this issue would be to publish something in the newspaper that is not true. As an advocate of the high journalistic standards, Mr. Hamilton strives to not publish anything false in the newspaper.

Since Judaism and Islam, among other religions, are contrary to the his beliefs, does he also edit the obituaries of people of those faiths?

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